Torque Wrench?

flatnacker

Hi guys, I did my valve clearances for the first time on the weekend and was wondering if you bother torquing the cam cover etc? As it is I cant find a dam torque wrench that goes low enough???? What do you all do??

clark4131

ABSOLUTELY!!! Go to Sears, Lowe's, Home Depot or hijack the Snap-On truck, but get the proper tools. If you can afford $6000+/- for a bike, then $80 for a torque wrench in the correct range ought not to scare you. Then again I've seen my white trash neighbors do some amazing things with vise grips and a 12 oz hammer when they're working under the hood of their primer grey '72 Nova ...SC

Brettv

yeah i hear walmart has them too
i havnt used a torque wrench, i have a kincrome one, got it from bunnings for about $60. the reason i didnt use it is because i dont have the crow foot attatchment, and was too lazy to find one, i think the caps are only about 10Nm anyway, so 'just' tight should be ok??
ill prob try and use it next time

trickwarrior

Gadsen

You MUST torque it to specs. Its critical, as the cam bore was machined at that torque, so guessing will result in an out of round cam bore and galling. I u se a Matco Tools 1/4 drive flex head I bought just for working on motorcylces, but it was spendy at $210 USD

tony1970

Unless you are going to pull the engine a 1/4" headed torque wrench will only fit between the intake cam cap and the frame. My 3/8" Sears will not fit. My friend lent me his Proto 3/8" with a slim head that will fit,but that is the only 3/8" one I have seen that will fit. Do yourself a favor and don't skimp on tools. I just picked up a new 1/4" drive Proto that reads both inch pounds and newton meters for $50 off e-bay that sells for $144 regularly. As for the cam cover you can hand tighten that, just make sure you use sealer on the gasket on the cam sprocket side. Good luck.

crooks420

ALWAYS torque to factory spec..... dont ask about lessons learned
Invest the money in both an inch-pound and foot-pound (go figure the metric equiv.) torque wrenches.... I personally have one in-lbs, and two ft-lbs... one for lower torques, and the other for higher torques. I have never used the "click" type, and prefer the scaled/ dial type: zero-ability.

GCannon

The consequences are great if you dont get the cam caps down right, first the cam may woble or gaul in the cylinder head. This will mushroom the cylinder head cam bearing surface then the valve spring buckets will not come out of the head and if you let it go too long you will be buying a new cylinder head. You must be very carful with the steel locating dowels make sure they are seated fully in the head before torquing the cam caps DO NOT OVER TORQUE THE CAM CAP BOLTS. after setting the torque wrench clamp the drive in the vise and click the wrench a few times this will un bind the ball and spring in the wrench.